Historically, the NFC is the NFL's senior circuit. But it hasn't acted that way lately.
The conference has lost five of the past six Super Bowls to AFC teams. Eight of the league's top-10 rated quarterbacks from last season were in the AFC. The NFC still has the bigger television markets, but it has taken a junior position as the seasons progress.
Which brings us to a strange quirk in the mad scramble for head coaches this offseason. Ten of the NFL's 32 teams made changes, five in each conference. The trend between the two conferences was strikingly different. The AFC continues to go "retro," leaning toward experienced head coaches. Though Eric Mangini of the Jets and Gary Kubiak of the Texans are first-time head coaches, Art Shell returned to the Raiders for a second go-around, Dick Jauron got his second head coaching chance with the Buffalo Bills and Herman Edwards was essentially traded from the Jets to the Chiefs despite three playoff seasons in five years in New York.
The NFC became the conference for first-time coaches. Scott Linehan (St. Louis), Rod Marinelli (Detroit), Mike McCarthy (Green Bay), Sean Payton (New Orleans) and Brad Childress (Minnesota) are all rookie head coaches. It's interesting, because the second-time-around trend has worked well for the AFC teams. Tony Dungy (Colts), Bill Belichick (Patriots) and Mike Shanahan (Broncos) are all with their second teams and have built perennial playoff teams. Plus, the entire NFC East has turned around with established second-time coaches: Joe Gibbs (Redskins), Bill Parcells (Cowboys) and Tom Coughlin (Giants).
"I think a lot of it is coincidence, I think it's a cycle," Payton said. "A few years back, there were three, four or five coaches who were hired again, guys like Joe Gibbs or Bill Parcells who have been veteran coaches hired for a second or third go-around. It's hard to put a handle on it."
Coincidence or not, the NFC seems to be seeking a new identity.
It goes beyond the economics of only having to pay a first-time coach $2 million a year or less. NFC teams are trying to find new ways to catch up to AFC teams. Although there was a nine-game improvement by the NFC in head-to-head matchups with AFC teams last season (from 20-44 in 2004 to 29-35 in 2005), the AFC holds an edge in big games because it has the best quarterbacks.
By no accident, the NFC teams that were searching for new coaches leaned heavily toward offense when they made their picks. Four of the five new NFC coaches were offensive coordinators. The only one who wasn't an offensive coordinator was Marinelli. Matt Millen twice tried to go with offensive-minded coaches (Marty Mornhinweg and Steve Mariucci) and failed both times. This time he wanted discipline, and even though Marinelli was a defensive line coach, not a coordinator, Millen felt he was a good fit.
Of course, it didn't hurt that Marinelli ended up with Mike Martz, one of the NFL's best offensive minds, as his offensive coordinator. Despite the transition in quarterbacking from Joey Harrington to Jon Kitna, Marinelli expects his offense will be ready to surprise people.
"We're going to explode," Marinelli said. "That's one thing I'm really excited about Mike [Martz]. I was in [the personnel office] one day and I could see the talent we had on offense, the young receivers. Seeing them, I had to get the best guy in football. I said I wanted to get these guys excited. I want to be daring."
Coaches in the NFC probably need to be daring because of the evolution of the defenses. The AFC is evolving into a conference of tough, run-stopping 3-4 defenses because of the success of Belichick and the Steelers' Bill Cowher. The NFC is a zone conference. Most teams have copied the success of the Buccaneers' Cover 2 zone defense, where the defense sits back and waits for the opposing offense to make mistakes.
To beat the Cover 2, offenses have to be aggressive.
"In our division, the NFC North, everybody is playing it," Childress said. "We brought in Mike Tomlin from Tampa Bay for our defense. Lovie Smith in Chicago comes from Tampa Bay. Rod Marinelli comes from the Cover 2 in Tampa. Green Bay has it. What better way to prepare against those people than play against your own defense every day?"
The original plan for the Rams was to hire a defensive coach. Ron Rivera of the Bears and Jim Haslett of the Saints were two of the favorites. But the search expanded and Linehan won over Rams management.
"I think the NFC probably is making a statement in going a different way," Linehan said. "When you hire a first-time coach, you think you are getting a pretty good idea of what you are getting, but the proof will come out over time. Maybe the NFC isn't as worried by going for first-time coaches. Maybe it's a little by chance, but the NFC is trying to change the face of the teams a little bit. The Rams were going to hire defensive, but they didn't."
The Packers picked McCarthy over defensive coordinator Jim Bates because general manager Ted Thompson was looking for a fresh approach after a horrible 4-12 season. McCarthy fit a lot of areas. He was an offensive coach who could maintain the West Coast offense, possibly convincing Brett Favre to return for another season. McCarthy had been with the Packers as a quarterbacks coach and was a good teacher. Thompson felt he fit.
"I think a lot of times in our business things happen in bunches," McCarthy said. "I don't think there is a reason five NFC coaches are first-time head coaches. I think at one time all the defensive coaches were getting the jobs. I think it's a trend. I think this business is big on fits. From an organizational standpoint, I think the guy has to fit with the people around him."
McCarthy could know by Saturday whether Favre is coming back or not. Though Favre is leaning toward returning, he hasn't made any announcement about his future. Though McCarthy is optimistic Favre will return, he wants to make sure the veteran quarterback is back so he could take more time to develop Aaron Rodgers as his replacement.
Of course, the key to the ultimate success will be how these five new coaches do in developing better quarterback play. Linehan has the least challenging task. Marc Bulger is established as one of the NFL's most accurate passers and is efficient running the Rams' offense. Linehan doesn't plan to screw that up. Other than cutting down the massive Rams' playbook, Linehan plans to install some of the no-huddle that worked with Daunte Culpepper in Minnesota and Gus Frerotte in Miami.
Payton is banking on Drew Brees coming off shoulder surgery to be his franchise quarterback. If Brees is healthy he should be an upgrade for the Saints.
Childress is gambling that Brad Johnson can take over as the full-time starter for Culpepper. Marinelli has the toughest task, breaking in two new quarterbacks: Kitna and Josh McCown.
"The owners are looking to go a different direction," Childress said. "I guess history will tell how it works."
John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.